5 Games That Went Through Development Hell and Came Out the Other Side
Duke Nukem Forever
Once a series that defined irreverent humor in video games, Duke Nukem couldn’t have been any more loved after Duke Nukem 3D was released in 1996. An exceptional shooter for its time, the title jettisoned the masculine stereotype to the forefront of video game popularity, and few were surprised when a sequel was announced to be in development a year later.
Unfortunately, the game then became one of the jokes it so loved to throw around, with the follow-up title Duke Nukem forever suffering delay after delay after delay. At first, it seemed like it was due to the usual issues: funding, a need to establish a decent plot and work out next-gen technological requirements and all the other typical needs of game development. And yet, the delays continued. It was delayed into the 2000s, then past 2005, and then again when its developer 3D Realms shut down and the property was acquired by 2K Games and Gearbox Software.
By the time it was finally released in 2011, it had become the poster child of delayed games, known among many as the quintessential vaporware title. Even worse, it was widely panned upon release as a title out of time that was utterly tone-deaf to the current gaming landscape with humor and gameplay that wasn’t welcome or up to par with the day’s contemporaries. Ouch. But hey, at least it made it out eventually, right?
